Swatch has announced a smartwatch that won’t need charging

The biggest problem with smartwatches is that their battery life is absolutely dreadful, and sometimes it doesn’t seem as though things are going to get better anytime soon. What if you could have a smartwatch that wouldn’t need to be plugged in at all? Swatch has one, and says it’ll arrive very soon.

Details are few and far between, but Swatch has confirmed that the watch will be able to connect to the internet, will be compatible with Android and Windows Phone, and will be released in the next 2-3 months.

How it’s going to work isn’t particularly clear either. Without a rechargeable battery there are only two options available: something similar to the self-winding watch mechanisms we’ve had for years, or something that runs on a watch battery like the Misfit Flash. I would guess that to keep power consumption down it’s more likely to have an e-ink display rather than LCD or LED.

We’ve been hearing a lot about poor battery life on smartwatches since they started getting released, and now that we know there’s a chance the Apple Watch might only last a few hours before it needs recharging. Swatch’s announcement is great news in that respect, and if it can deliver a great smartwatch that doesn’t need to be plugged in constantly then that’s all the better for consumers and the industry.